After Surat blaze, ASPA urges fire dept to inspect all schools in Ghaziabad

In the wake of Surat coaching centre fire tragedy, a delegation of All Schools Parents Association (ASPA), a parents’ body in Ghaziabad, met officials of fire department on Wednesday and appealed to conduct inspection of all the schools in the city.

ASPA claimed that many popular schools are running activity centers in the basement of their buildings, which is against the guidelines of the Supreme Court and the National Building Code.

“We have received complaints against many schools such as DPS Indirapuram (Shakti Khand branch), Presidium Indirapuram, St Teresa alleging that they are using their basement as activity areas for the kids,” claimed Shivani Jain, president of ASPA.

“We have requested the fire department to conduct inspection of all the schools and examine the status of their fire NOC so that situation becomes clear to the concerned parents,” Jain added.

“Also, if violations are found, the schools will get time to rectify those before they reopen after summer vacations,” Jain added further.

Besides, Jain also suggested to conduct fire mock drills in schools to teach dos and don’ts to school children during any fire mishap.

"We just witnessed a horrific fire tragedy in Surat where helpless kids were seen jumping off the windows. We should take lessons from it so that such tragedies are never repeated to anyone anywhere," Jain said. “The tragedy has created fear among the parents as they worry for the safety of their children.”

Meanwhile, the city administration seems to be taking action against violators. On Tuesday, a joint team of administration, fire and civic authority sealed seven coaching centers that were found violating fire safety and other norms.

However, Jain said that the administration should also include schools under their ambit of inspection. "Or should we wait for a similar fire incident to occur in schools to draw the attention of the authorities?" She asked.